Frontbacksaysfarewellandplansamid-Augustshutdown

Sometimes an idea just doesn’t gain traction and take off, so you have to know when the time has come to cut your losses and move on. That is what has happened with selfie app Frontback, a social networking service that launched in 2013 and will shut down in August.

Image Credit: Tools & Toys (http://toolsandtoys.net/frontback/)

The idea behind Frontback

Frontback was launched as a way to capture and share a moment. You would take a picture of yourself and another one of what was in front of you, and the two images would be merged and posted for your friends and family to enjoy. It was met with excellent reviews, with The Verge saying the app felt “more like a fun utility than ‘one more’ social network to keep up with, which is a good thing.”

Good ideas don’t always win

Frontback may have been hailed as a great concept and a good app, but the service never really gained any traction. Frontback founder and designer Frederic della Faille acknowledged in a farewell blog post that the service can’t “reach the critical numbers that would make Frontback a sustainable social network.” Even though some communities, like Ann Arbor, Michigan, Brussels, Belgium, and Tokyo, Japan embraced Frontback, it wasn’t enough.

Goodbye, Frontback

Frontback will shut down as a service on Aug. 15, 2015. The Web page for the service provides a way for users to export their photos, which will be available until Sept. 15, 2015. The Frontback app will continue to be available, but will transition to a camera app without social interactions or feeds.